Academic literature on the topic 'Computational dosimetry'

The current development of hybrid SPECT/CT and PET/CT systems allows not only accurate attenuation correction of images, but also provide an anatomical frame for the 3D spatial representation of the dose distribution. The main goal of this thesis project was to develop computational algorithms for calculation of the 3D dose distribution delivered by internal emitters based on the images and information provided by new hybrid SPECT/CT and PET/CT systems. Although many experimental problems exist in patient-specific dosimetry, current drawback is the lack of radionuclide voxel S values for the set of all possible combinations of cubical and non-cubical pixel edges and thickness used in SPECT and PET studies. This work presents an alternative and computationally efficient method for calculating voxel S values based on the Monte Carlo volume integration of tabulated dose point-kernels of beta emissions over a voxel-to-voxel geometry. The accuracy of the calculations was compared with those determined by direct Monte Carlo radiation transport simulation.

Radiation therapy is continuously increasing in complexity due to technological innovation in delivery techniques, necessitating thorough dosimetric verification. Comparing accurately predicted portal dose images to measured images obtained during patient treatment can determine if a particular treatment was delivered correctly. The goal of this thesis was to create a method to predict portal dose images that was versatile and accurate enough to use in a clinical setting. All measured images in this work were obtained with an amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging device (a-Si EPID), but the technique is applicable to any planar imager. A detailed, physics-motivated fluence model was developed to characterize fluence exiting the linear accelerator head. The model was further refined using results from Monte Carlo simulations and schematics of the linear accelerator. The fluence incident on the EPID was converted to a portal dose image through a superposition of Monte Carlo-generated, monoenergetic dose kernels specific to the a-Si EPID. Predictions of clinical IMRT fields with no patient present agreed with measured portal dose images within 3% and 3 mm. The dose kernels were applied ignoring the geometrically divergent nature of incident fluence on the EPID. A computational investigation into this parallel dose kernel assumption determined its validity under clinically relevant situations. Introducing a patient or phantom into the beam required the portal image prediction algorithm to account for patient scatter and attenuation. Primary fluence was calculated by attenuating raylines cast through the patient CT dataset, while scatter fluence was determined through the superposition of pre-calculated scatter fluence kernels. Total dose in the EPID was calculated by convolving the total predicted incident fluence with the EPID-specific dose kernels. The algorithm was tested on water slabs with square fields, agreeing with measurement within 3% and 3 mm. The method was then applied to five prostate and six head-and-neck IMRT treatment courses (~1900 clinical images). Deviations between the predicted and measured images were quantified. The portal dose image prediction model developed in this thesis work has been shown to be accurate, and it was demonstrated to be able to verify patients’ delivered radiation treatments.

The work is dedicated to comparison methods of processing the results of measurements of the absorbed depth-dose distributions (DDD) of the electron radiation to determine the practical range of electrons. The sets of test data were obtained by modeling the DDD with use Monte Carlo method. The accuracy of the calculation method is determined by the mean square error of processing results the sets of test data. In the paper it was performed the comparison of computational methods of processing the measurement results that differs in the sizes of the array of data being processed and types of functions which use for approximation the data. Comparison the accuracy methods is base for the recommendations on the selection of computational methods for determining the practical range of electrons for computational dosimetry of electron radiation.

Tanto em Medicina Nuclear como em outras aplicações científicas as ferramentas para cálculos dosimétricos são de suma importância para atender os princípios básicos de proteção radiológica. Este trabalho desenvolve o manequim matemático da mulher brasileira, para ser usado como base em cálculos das Frações Absorvidas Específicas (FAEs) nos órgãos do corpo e no esqueleto, em virtude dos objetivos com relação à diagnose ou à terapia em Medicina Nuclear. O manequim ora desenvolvido é similar, na forma, ao manequim de Snyder tornando-o mais realístico para as condições antropomórficas da mulher brasileira. Para isso, utilizou-se o formalismo do método Monte Carlo, através do código computacional ALGAM-97®. Como contribuição aos objetivos deste trabalho, foi desenvolvido e implementado o sistema computacional cFAE – consulta Fração Absorvida Específica, que se torna mais versátil para a consulta do usuário pesquisador. A interface de diálogo com o operador foi projetada seguindo a atual tendência de utilização de uma linguagem orientada para o evento. Essa interface permite que o usuário navegue através dos manequins referência, escolha o órgão fonte, a energia desejada e receba as respostas num diálogo eficiente e intuitivo. O sistema fornece, além dos dados referentes à mulher brasileira, também aqueles referentes ao modelo de Snyder e ao modelo do homem brasileiro. O sistema possibilita não apenas introduzir os dados individuais para as FAEs dos três manequins, mas também a comparação entre eles.<br>Tools for dosimetric calculations are of the utmost importance for the basic principles of radiological protection, not only in nuclear medicine, but also in other scientific calculations. In this work a mathematical model of the Brazilian woman is developed in order to be used as a basis for calculations of Specific Absorbed Fractions (SAFs) in internal organs and in the skeleton, in accord with the objectives of diagnosis or therapy in nuclear medicine. The model developed here is similar in form to that of Snyder, but modified to be more relevant to the case of the Brazilian woman. To do this, the formalism of the Monte Carlo method was used by means of the ALGAM- 97® computational code. As a contribution to the objectives of this thesis, we developed the computational system cSAF – consultation for Specific Absorbed Fractions (cFAE from Portuguese acronym) - which furnishes several “look-up” facilities for the research user. The dialogue interface with the operator was planned following current practices in the utilization of event-oriented languages. This interface permits the user to navigate by means of the reference models, choose the source organ, the energy desired, and receive an answer through an efficient and intuitive dialogue. The system furnishes, in addition to the data referring to the Brazilian woman, data referring to the model of Snyder and to the model of the Brazilian man. The system makes available not only individual data to the SAFs of the three models, but also a comparison among them.

Les atteintes cardiovasculaires consécutives à la radiothérapie font partie des effets secondaires tardifs soulevant de nombreuses interrogations au sein de la communauté scientifique, notamment du point de vue de la relation dose-Effet et des effets concomitants d’autres facteurs de risque (chimiothérapie, cholestérol, âge, tension artérielle,…). Les coronaropathies post-Radiques sont une des principales causes de morbidité cardiaque. Cependant, l’étude des doses reçues par les coronaires lors d’une radiothérapie requiert des approximations importantes, notamment d’un point de vue morphologique. Pour les études rétrospectives avec des dossiers médicaux anciens, les informations anatomiques sont réduites à des radiographies orthogonales et quelques contours au simulateur. Pour les dossiers médicaux plus récents, l’utilisation de l’imagerie scanner pour la planification de traitement permet la considération d’une anatomie 3D, toutefois extrêmement limitée pour les coronaires en raison d’une résolution et d’un contraste trop faibles. Par ailleurs, lors de la planification de traitement des patients traités actuellement, les doses reçues par les artères coronaires sont rarement quantifiées en clinique, et quand elles le sont, c’est au moyen d’une segmentation par a priori anatomique. Ce travail de thèse propose une utilisation originale des fantômes numériques hybrides afin d’étudier les doses aux coronaires dans le cadre de radiothérapies du sein gauche et du lymphome de Hodgkin.Au cours de la thèse, une méthode d’insertion de fantômes numériques hybrides au format DICOM dans le système de planification de traitement a été développée et validée. Elle a été adaptée et testée avec des informations anatomiques limitées aux radiographies comme c’est le cas pour les dossiers médicaux anciens, pour des traitements du sein gauche.La méthode a également été adaptée pour effectuer des reconstructions dosimétriques précises aux artères coronaires de patients traités par radiothérapie pour un lymphome de Hodgkin médiastinal, ayant bénéficié d’un suivi cardiovasculaire incluant le diagnostic de sténoses coronariennes à l’aide d’un coroscanner. Par une étude cas-Témoin, le risque de sténoses à un segment d’artère coronaire donné a été évalué comme étant multiplié par 1,049 à chaque Gray aditionnel sur la dose médiane au segment d’artère coronaire.Pour les dossiers actuels, les incertitudes associées à l’approche de segmentation par a priori anatomique des artères coronaires ont été estimées dans le cadre du traitement du sein gauche, en simulant différentes topologies réalistes d’artères coronaires dans un unique thorax et en évaluant les doses, pour une balistique donnée avec et sans irradiation de la chaîne mammaire interne. La variabilité inter-Topologique de la dose moyenne à l’artère coronaire la plus irradiée, l’interventriculaire antérieure, a été estimée à respectivement 35%et 19% avec et sans irradiation de la chaîne mammaire interne tandis qu’avec la dose aux 2% du volume de l’artère interventriculaire les plus irradiés, cette variabilité est respectivement de 76% et 49%.Enfin, l’ordre de grandeur des écarts entre des mesures par films radiochromiques et des calculs de dose du système de planification de traitement ISOgray en bordure de champ et hors du champ a été évalué pour des configurations simple (fantôme physique homogène parallélépipédique, champ carré ouvert) et complexe (fantôme physique anthropomorphe avec hétérogénéités, faisceaux tangentiels rectangulaires avec filtres en coin). Ces écarts sont jugés significatifs essentiellement en bordure de champ quelle que soit la configuration<br>Cardiovascular diseases following radiotherapy are major secondary late effects raising questions among the scientific community, especially regarding the dose-Effect relationship and confounding risk factors (chemotherapy, cholesterolemia, age at treatment, blood pressure,…). Post-Radiation coronary diseases are one of the main causes of cardiac morbidity. Some approximations are made when coronary doses due to radiotherapy are estimated, especially regarding the morphology. For retrospective studies with old medical records, only radiographs are usually available with sometimes some contours made with a simulator. For recent medical records, CT scans displaying the anatomy in 3D are used for radiotherapy simulation but do not allow the coronary artery visualization due to low resolution and contrast. Currently, coronary doses are barely assessed in clinical practice, and when it is done, anatomical prior knowledge is generally used. This thesis proposes an original approach based on hybrid computational phantoms to study coronary artery doses following radiotherapy for left-Side breast cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.During the thesis, a method inserting hybrid computational phantoms in a DICOM format into the treatment planning system has been developed and validated. It has been adapted and tested in conditions where only radiographs provide anatomical information, as with old medical records for left side breast radiotherapy.The method has also been adapted to perform precise dose reconstructions to the coronary artery for patients treated for a mediastinal Hodgkin lymphoma and diagnosed with coronary stenosis through a coroscanner. A case-Control study was carried out and the risk of coronary stenosis on a coronary artery segment was assessed to be multiplied by 1.049 at each additional gray on the median dose to the coronary artery segment.For recent medical records, coronary doses uncertainties related to an approach by anatomical prior knowledge segmentation were estimated for a left side breast radiotherapy by simulating different realistic coronary artery topologies in a single representative thorax anatomy and calculating doses due to beam sets, with and without irradiation of the internal mammary chain. The inter-Topology variability of the mean dose to the most irradiated coronary artery, the left descending coronary artery, was assessed to 35% and 19% with and without the internal mammary chain irradiation, respectively; and it was of 76% and 49%, respectively, considering the dose to the most irradiated 2% of this coronary artery volume.Finally, an order of magnitude of the differences between measurments by radiochromic films and dose calculations by the ISOgray treatment planning system in the peripheral field area, has been estimated by for both a simple configuration (parallelepiped physical phantom, homogeneous media, open square field) and a complex configuration (anthropomorphic physical phantom, heterogeneous media, rectangular tangential beams with wedge filter). These differences were judged significant essentially around the geometrical border of the irradiation field for both configuration